REJECTION at his boyhood club Worcester Warriors has only served to spur Saracens centre Tim Streather on throughout his career.

Streather, who was born and bred in Worcester, joined the Warriors academy as a schoolboy and was nurtured through the club’s ranks until he left school.

Giving up other sports — he played football for Coventry City for a short time — Streather chose to dedicate all his attention to rugby.

But, when the time came to make the step up to the senior squad, Worcester chose not to offer Streather a first-team contract.

Four successful years at Championship side Nottingham followed, where he scored 32 tries in 69 games, before Streather earned himself a move to Sarries ahead of this season.

“Not getting taken on at Worcester certainly wasn’t nice at the time,” said Streather, who also played for Malvern.

“I don’t hold a grudge, if you’re not in favour, you’re not in favour, but obviously at the time it was very frustrating for me to not get the chance I felt I deserved.

“I don’t hold a grudge against them but you do use it as motivation when someone doesn’t think you’re good enough for their plans.

“My sole focus is to be the best I can be for myself, not for anyone else, but those past experiences can certainly spur you on.

“When you don’t feel loved somewhere and you go somewhere else, you want to take the opportunity to do better.”

Streather has already faced Worcester for Nottingham, playing against them four times the season after Warriors were relegated to the second tier, but the 25-year-old admits he’s definitely looking forward to tomorrow’s first match-up of the season at Sixways (3pm).

Last year’s Championship player-of-the-year will add precision and penetration to Saracens’ midfeld, which already boasts the likes of Brad Barritt, Joel Tomkins and Duncan Taylor.

While Streather is delighted to be plying his trade alongside those names, he insists he joined Saracens to play.

“It’s definitely a big challenge but I’m not just here to train, I’m here to play,” Streather said.

He added: “That’s why I joined the club and that’s what I’m aiming for.

“I want to improve as a player regardless.

“One of the huge attractions of coming to this club was looking forward to playing with these players.

“It’s only going to make me a better player and I’m really looking forward to learning from them but also pushing for a place at the same time.”